#He’s an eldritch knight and I Might? give him a few levels in necromancy if it’s viable

[jahiera]

okay sitting at work so I’m working out shiloh, durge run edition. he already exists in another game as a literal villain (mob boss edition) so translating him into dark urge is a bit fun. one of his Big Things is that he’s a murderer but he has a strict honor code irt certain ways of fighting and killing so—I’d diagnose him.. lawful evil? and I’m playing him that the urges in act 1 kind of consume him a bit and take over, and he isn’t resisting them at all. it’s only once he goes into act 2 that he’ll begin to try and get them under control—not because he wants to rise above them but because he cannot tolerate being under the thumb of something else, or under the compulsion of something he doesn’t control completely, including his own impulses & deteriorating mind. gunning for taking the cult as his own and being minthara’s evil wife. also he’s 6’11”. 7’3” with the horns.

[dailycharacteroption]

Pop Culture Builds 8: Merlin (TV Series)

When people think of legendary wizards, iconic figures whose image shapes the very idea of what a wizard is, few are more famous and iconic in western civilization than Merlin, mystical advisor to the legendary King Arthur, and worker of great magics.

There have been many works with their own interpretation of Merlin for as long as the Legend of King Arthur has existed. Few, however, have focused on a younger Merlin that came of age alongside Arthur Pendragon, such as our subject today from the BBC television series bearing his name.

This version of Merlin is a young man and survivor of the “creatures of the Old Religion”, whom many were wiped out during the current king’s purge and banning of the practice of magic.

The series focuses on Merlin learning to master his power in secret, coming to terms with it and helping, often inadvertently, shape Arthur into the Once and Future King of Legend.

Despite having to practice in secret for most of the series, Merlin is an undisputed master of magic well beyond his peers, a perfect example of larger than life heroic power, and today we’re going to try and put that power onto paper with a character build.

 While Merlin is human in shape, by the technical rules of the setting, he is also a creature of magic, so you could use the human racial traits or that of another human-like race, likely taking alternate racial traits that give him a knack for magic.

For class, I thought long and hard about it, but I would build this version of Merlin as an arcanist with the white mage archetype, signifying his occasional use of healing magic in the show, as well as his mastery of all schools of magic with no clear preference. Amongst arcanist exploits, he favors the various damaging projectiles and attack exploits to guarantee that he always has at least some attacking spells, as well as those that make countering and subverting enemy spells easier.

Merlin isn’t just a powerful arcanist, though, he has learned magic far beyond most others almost instinctively, and for that reason I suggest that he would in fact also be a mythic character, naturally taking the path of the Archmage. In particular, he would use the wild arcana, and aside from mythic magic, he would also use path abilities like abundant casting, competent caster, energy conversion, flash of omniscience, flexible counterspell, arcane potency, divine knowledge, and so on.

As a prodigy mage, Merlin has no particular preference on spells, though he seems to limit his studies of necromancy to detection spells and the like for obvious reasons. Naturally, Merlin would do his best to acquire as many spells as possible from varied sources, all the better to understand and utilize magical power.

There’s an interesting choice among Merlin’s feats, and that’s Skill Focus (Perception), followed by the Eldritch Heritage feat chain, specifically focused on the draconic sorcerer bloodline (gold). While Merlin doesn’t typically use claws or wings, this helps represent his blood as a dragonlord. Anything more than that, such as a dragonlord’s ability to request aid from dragons is probably best represented by story and GM fiat. Beyond those feats, those that improve his magic, including those that help disguise the source of his magic, are a must.

Merlin has dealt with a lot of magical talismans and other doodads in his time, and can certainly handle a blade when need arises, likely using magic to enhance his prowess when need be. Aside from that, I’d recommend magical equipment that can be easily disguised or hidden away.

There are certainly other ways to build Merlin, such as an eldritch knight if you want to emphasize swordplay, with that one feat that lets you make up the difference of lost spellcasting levels with prestige classes. Alternatively, there are a bevy of wizard, arcanist, or even sorcerer builds that might also be suitable.

 Any high-level mage, let alone a mythic one, certainly has elements that wink and not to Merlin the mythological figure, so this build can easily be used for your own legendary archmage as well.